A Second Chance
by Kiaralilly
Summary: What happens to Thalia after the Golden Fleece brings her back to life.
1. I Pop Out of A Tree

"Oh my gods!"

That was the first thing I had heard when I gained consciousness. Last thing I had known, five different monsters had been attacking me. Was I dead? Was I standing by the river Styx? Was I standing over my own body, a ghost?

"Quick, Grover, go get Percy!" The girl's voice sounded familiar, and Grover…he was the satyr…the one who tried to get us to camp safely.

"Blah-ha-ha! What about Chiron?"

"I'll get him!" said a shrill, scared voice, and the sound of long human strides and short, goat-like strides faded.

"Thalia?" asked the girl who had spoken first.

Who did the girl sound like? I couldn't pinpoint it…

More footsteps, hushed whisperings, gasps of shock, and a gruff voice. "Annabeth, what is going on?"

Annabeth…the little seven-year-old? Sure, she was a daughter of Athena, and wise for her age, but she was just a little kid! Why not ask Luke? Why not Grover?

Somebody pressed a warm hand to my forehead. It seemed to burn into my skin. I was propped up, and my head rolled over onto somebody's shoulder. I tried to protest.

"Come on!" the person holding me said in a boss-like manner into the silence. Luke? "What's wrong with you people? Let's get her to the Big House."

I managed to yank my eyelids open. I was looking up at a young boy, probably my age, twelve, with bruises on his face and his dark hair messy like he had just been sleeping. The night sky over him was pitch black, dotted with stars.

It was clear to see he wasn't Luke. I was shocked. Who was this kid? "Who—"

"I'm Percy." He said. "You're safe now."

I looked around. There were no signs of monsters, and I wasn't hurt. "Strangest dream…" I managed to mutter. That's what it must have been…a dream.

"It's okay." He said.

"Dying." I whispered. I had been dying. I suddenly remembered lying bloody and hurting in the grass. Luke was holding Annabeth back and the monsters had disappeared in a whirlwind of fighting and swords. A person had been looking down at me at my eyesight blurred…my father…

"No. You're okay, what's your name?" but it didn't seem like I question.

"I'm Thalia, daughter of Zeus."

The boy's jaw clenched as the crowd burst into whispers, and a girl with curly blonde hair in battle armor burst into tears.

The boy helped me sit up by myself and then backed away nervously, hoping I didn't fall but seeming a little eager to leave my side. The blonde girl rushed over and threw her arms around me. "Thalia, you're okay!"

I stiffened. "Who are you?" I tried not to sound rude, but I had no idea who the Hades this girl was.

She backed up. "It's me, Thalia. Annabeth."

"But…but Annabeth is seven." My throat was dry. This girl was my age…but once I got a good look, I knew she was telling the truth. Her eyes were the same stormy gray.

"What's going on?" I asked, standing up. "Where's Luke?"

Annabeth started crying again, and that Percy boy reached over and patted her on the arm.

"Maybe we should take Thalia to the Big House." He suggested again, quieter this time, looking to a tall centaur, who just reeked of leader.

I was led to a big blue house, and Grover started apologizing as we walked. "I'm so sorry, Thalia, I didn't mean to lead you into trouble, I'm sorry I left you there to die."

"Die?" I asked, alarmed. "What are you talking about, goat boy? I'm right here, aren't I?" I was trying to sound upbeat. I wasn't dead….

Nobody said anything, and that wasn't a very comforting feeling.

They sat me down at a pool table, Annabeth sitting next to me on one side, Grover on the other, and the dark haired boy across the table. The centaur sat at one end, and a pudgy man with a red nose holding a Diet Coke at the other.

"Hello, Thalia, I'm Chiron." The centaur said. "And that is the camp leader, Dionysus, or Mr. D."

"Hi." I said in a small voice.

"You know Annabeth and Grover, of course, and this is Percy." Chiron pointed to the boy with black hair, who was looking between Annabeth and I like he was worried I was going to burst into flames or Annabeth was going to start crying again.

Then they told me the story. How I had died several years ago, and my father, Zeus, had enclosed my soul in a pine tree that had been protecting the camp from monsters ever since. I was supposed to be nineteen, and one look in a mirror confirmed I wasn't twelve anymore…but I wasn't nineteen, either. Luke was twenty-one (they didn't tell me where he was), and Annabeth was twelve. Nobody explained to me who this Percy person was, and why he was here. He didn't even say anything.

"You must have come out of the tree because of the Golden Fleece." Annabeth said.

"Golden Fleece? Like a goat?" I asked, startled.

"Blaa-ha-ha! Sheep! Not goat!" Grover cried, offended.

"Well, excuse me." I snapped, and poked him. Electricity sparked from my finger, zapping the stubborn Satyr.

"Hey! Ow! You know that hurts, Thalia!" Grover complained, rubbing his shoulder. That was just another benefit…okay, the _only _benefit, of being the daughter of Zeus…super cool shocking skill.

"What's this Golden Fleece?" I demanded.

The Percy boy spoke up for the first time. "It makes everything around it grow well…the plants, the animals, whatever. Lu—somebody poisoned your tree and we had to find it to keep the boundaries up and protect the camp."

"Who? Who poisoned it?" I asked.

Chiron cleared his throat. "Let's not talk about this right now, shall we? I think Thalia deserves a good night's sleep."

"I've slept for years! I want to know what's going on. Who poisoned my—I mean, the tree?" I snapped, nearly knocking over my untouched glass of water.

"Patience, daughter of Zeus." Chiron said with a disapproving look.

I scowled, but fell silent, waiting for someone to tell me what was going on.

The pudgy man…Mr. D…spoke up for the first time. "How refreshing. A demigod of the Big Three actually attempting to do as they're told." His tone was bored, and he didn't actually seem pleased. He was glaring pointedly at Percy.

I stared at the boy, who was now scowling much the same way as I had just been. "Who are you?"

Percy looked surprised. "Percy Jackson."

"No, I mean, who's your parent? On the god side?"

Percy shifted nervously. "My dad is Poseidon."

I felt like someone had just hit me over the head. "I thought I was the only child of the Big Three."

"You were…until Percy revealed himself last summer." Chiron said.

"Oh." I really didn't have anything else to say.

Nobody spoke for a minute, until I decided to try my long un-answered question again. "Where's Luke?"

Percy shifted uncomfortably, Chiron bowed his head, Annabeth was crying again and Grover was nervously munching on a tin can. The only person that looked unfazed was Mr. D, who took a slurp of his Diet Coke and settled back into his arm chair.

"He isn't…he isn't dead, is he?" I asked, my mouth dry.

"No." Percy was the only one to say anything, and he said it with such distaste that it took me by surprise.

"Then where is he? What's wrong?"

Annabeth put a hand on my shoulder. "Kronos is back…and Luke had joined him."

"Um…Kronos?" It sounded familiar…maybe it had been mentioned in a passing. "Remind me who that is?"

"Kronos is the Titan Lord of Time, and the father of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades." Chiron said.

"And he's not a good guy, right?"

"Right." Chiron said gently.

I was stunned. Why would Luke join Kronos? Luke wasn't a mean person…why would he be on the bad guy's side? "That doesn't make any sense."

Percy crossed his arms, looking a little annoyed. He opened his mouth to say something, but there was a loud thump under the table and Percy's eyes started to water. "What did you do that for?" he asked Annabeth.

"Just shut up, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth snapped. "We don't need your smart comments."

Percy glared at her.

"I must insist on us all going to bed. It's late." Chiron said. I tried to protest, but he held up his hand. "Percy, Annabeth, take Thalia to the Zeus cabin."

"Come on, Thalia." Annabeth said, and we all stepped out into the night air. "Are you okay?" she asked me.

"Um, I guess so." I felt sick to my stomach. Everything was so different now. Luke had joined Kronos, Annabeth was twelve, and there was another child of the Big Three…Percy.

Annabeth pointed to a big, white cabin with holographic doors. "That's your cabin. I'll be right over there, at the Athena cabin." She said, pointing at another cabin, slightly shorter. "And Percy will be at the Poseidon cabin." She pointed to another empty cabin, like mine. It was a short little cabin gleaming with shells. "Here's some pajamas…and everything else you should need." She handed me a bag.

"I have the cabin all to myself?" I asked. I tried to sound excited, but I was honestly a little scared. I had just popped out of a tree and now they were going to leave me alone in a huge marble cabin?

Annabeth and Percy left and I slipped into the cabin. There were ten beds all dressed in gold, and the ceiling was tall with a beautiful view of the night sky. The floor was smooth like glass and was swirled with clouds and storms and lighting. It was beautiful…but large and lonely at the same time.

I dressed in my pajamas and climbed into the bed farthest in the corner, curled up, and succeeded in _not _falling asleep.


	2. I Learn That Aphrodite Girls Are Snobs

"_Did you see her? That's Thalia Grace." _

Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion as blurred faces whispered and pointed at me. The sky overhead was dark, and the frequent lightning did nothing to help that.

"Thalia!" a familiar voice made my heart soar. Ahead of me was the fourteen-year-old Luke, the Luke I had known, holding out his hand toward me. "Thalia, come here."

I tried to run toward him, but it was like running up on a downward escalator. I didn't have much luck.

"Come on, Thalia!" Luke beckoned again.

I reached out, but it didn't help. He was still so far away.

Suddenly he began to shake. His eyes turned solid gold and his hair seemed to stand up, like someone had rubbed it with a balloon.

"Luke!" I yelled, trying to get to him. Something was wrong.

Luke fell to his knees, still shuddering, the light gone. Finally I managed to get to him, and I put a hand on his shoulder.

He looked up at me, a hideously twisted smile on his face, his eyes still gold. "Come on, Thalia, won't you join me?"

And that voice wasn't Luke's.

…

I woke up shivering. Light was pouring in through the sun roof, and the image of Luke's twisted, evil face was still burned into my eyelids…like I had really been there…right next to him.

There was a knock on my door and I jumped. "Who is it?"

"Percy and Annabeth…it's time for breakfast."

I had to eat by myself, which was honestly pretty boring. I was just pushing my food around my plate, thinking about my dream, when Grover plopped down across the table from me.

"Hi, Thalia, how are you?" he asked gently.

"Fine." I replied, annoyed. I looked around at the tables around us. They were all still staring.

I stabbed my eggs forcefully, glaring at a particularly shameless Aphrodite girl. She blushed and turned.

"Why is everyone staring?" I asked Grover.

"You're the daughter of Zeus…and you came out of a tree last night." Grover pointed out.

I was quiet for a minute. "Why did Luke join Kronos, Grover?"

Grover shifted nervously. "Um, I'm not supposed to tell you that."

"Why? That's not fair…I deserve to know, Luke's my friend."

Grover sighed and looked around nervously. "He still thinks his father, Hermes, abandoned him. He believes all the Gods are bad, and he is trying to help Kronos come to power so he can overthrow Olympus."

I gritted my teeth. "Grover, what if Luke has the right idea? The gods _did _abandon the three of us… Hermes left Luke with his crazy mother, Athena left Annabeth with her father, who hated her, and I was left with my mom…" I stopped. I didn't want to think about her…my mother.

The whole time I was talking Grover was shaking his head. "You can't think that way, Thalia. The gods are busy…and there are certain rules. Demigods can only be raised by their mortal parent, for one."

"But that isn't fair! What if our mortal parent is completely incompetent? Is that like some kind of rule, or something? That all demigods' parents are crazy?" I asked, my voice rising.

People turned to stare again.

"Shh! Calm down, Thalia." Grover said. "Gods can't be regular parents. They have too many kids…and besides, they have very, very important jobs, running the world. You have to understand." Grover was practically pleading by now.

"Why?" I snapped. "It's a free country."

"You're the daughter of Zeus, if you join Luke, Olympus could fall." Grover said seriously. "Do you want that to happen…for life to end as we all know it? Do you want the whole world destroyed?"

I stared down at my plate. Did I think Zeus should have abandoned me? No. But did I want Olympus destroyed? No.

"Whatever." I said stubbornly. Grover got the hint I wanted to be left alone and went to join Percy at the next table over.

…

I wasn't sure how I was talked into dressing in battle armor. They stuffed a sword in my hand, and suddenly Percy was in front of me. "Ready to train, Thalia?"

He looked a lot more comfortable with his sword, which was gleaming in the sun. Mine was a little too heavy…it could barely keep a grip on it.

It turned out that I was more out of practice than I thought I would be. I managed not to get run through with the sword, but Percy was really, really good.

"Okay, okay, enough." I said when Percy knocked me onto the ground. "I need a different sword…what happened to my spear? And Aegis?" I asked.

My spear and my shield, Aegis, had been a gift from my father. So he hadn't been a completely incompetent father, I guess.

Chiron, who had been watching from the side, nodded his head. "I believe we kept them in the attic. Why don't we go check?"

…

Covered in dust and spider webs, I found my silver bracelet and Mace canister in a box along with my backpack. Instead of just picking up everything I needed, I grabbed the whole thing and darted downstairs. That mummy was just plain creepy.

I began to shift through the box once I was outside. I slipped the bracelet around my wrist, and put the Mace canister in my pocket. However I had a hard time getting myself to open the backpack. I knew what was in there. A spare pair of clothes (those wouldn't fit anymore), some bandages and medicine, and a few random pieces of paper I had picked up, including a pamphlet for the Hunters of Artemis. I ripped it in half forcefully, thinking of that stupid Zoë Nightshade.

…

"Are you ready, Thalia?"

It was the next day, and Percy had that stupid, 'I'm going to beat you' smile on his face as he held his sword out at me.

"Definitely." I took my Mace canister open, and the gleaming shield popped out for the first time since I had been fighting the monsters all those years ago. I shone in the sunlight. Percy seemed unfazed…until I pressed my bracelet and it became a shield with a huge head of Medusa.

Percy yelped and fell backward.

I laughed. "Are you scared, seaweed brain?"

"Hey. You haven't met her." He snapped, picking up his sword and hitting his own watch, which unfurled into a shield depicting Percy fighting a huge bull, Annabeth holding a giant at dagger-point, and a young Cyclops riding some kind of freaky horse-fish. I didn't have time to ask, though, because Percy charged. Percy was good, but I managed to slam him onto the ground with my shield. He picked himself up immediately, and after only a few swipes, he had his swords tip at my neck.

"Come on, pinecone face." Percy joked. I guess he only put up with Annabeth calling him names.

I lost over and over and over again, and the onlookers were snickering. Even the Dryads…and the Aphrodite girls passing by, which I thought was pushing it, because they were _way _worse than I was.

Finally, after I had been pushed to the ground again, Percy came and held out a hand to help me up. "Come on, no hard feelings. You're really good, just out of practice."

I scowled and ignored him. I wasn't sure I liked this son of Poseidon.


	3. I Make An Enemy

"Are you sure she will join us, boy?"

I was standing in the middle of a room with a tall ceiling. It looked like a tacky ballroom, lined with ugly yellow wallpaper, with a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. There was a man sitting in a throne, his face masked by a shadow. Luke was standing in front of him, holding a blade that looked both bronze and silver loosely at his side. Standing behind him were tons of different monsters…all horrifying. Some were familiar, but some I had never seen before.

"I'm sure." Luke said confidently to the man in the throne.

"The same way you were sure about that girl, Annabeth?"

Luke's face darkened. "She was too young when we came to camp. They brainwashed her…I thought she would listen to me…" his voice trailed off.

"You better not be wrong." The man's voice was icy.

"I won't be. I know Thalia…she'll be for our cause." Luke nodded confidently.

"Humph." The man sighed heavily. "Fine, then, you are dismissed."

Luke opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but then he left, the monsters parting for him, and then following him out of the room.

Out in the hallway, Luke began to look more nervous than confident. In fact, he may have even looked scared.

…

I slipped up in training, and Annabeth ended up giving me a gash on the hand by mistake.

"Oh! Oh, sorry, Thalia, I didn't mean to…sorry!" Annabeth squealed.

"Calm down, Annabeth. It's okay. You nearly took off Clarisse's hand a few minutes ago, and you didn't seem too bothered by that." I said, wrapping my hand in a bandage.

"Clarisse is different." Annabeth said flatly. "You're my friend."

Annabeth was like my little sister…really. Even though I still felt like I was twelve, I still thought of her as being seven years old. She was always so confident that everything would be okay, and that Luke, her and I would be a family forever. She must have been heartbroken when Luke turned over to Kronos's side. I wondered when Luke had decided to go bad. In fact, looking at Annabeth...I felt really bad for her.

I couldn't imagine what she had been going through. First she was practically kicked out by her family, and then she came with Luke and I, and spent a long time running around with us. She never got a normal childhood. Okay, so Luke and I hadn't, either, but I wasn't sure anyone deserved to have a good life more than Annabeth. But then I died (well, sort of), and then Luke turned on her.

Annabeth helped fix up my hand, and we stored our armor in the supply shed. As we walked toward the rock climbing wall (lava and all), I turned to Annabeth. "Hey, are you okay?"

She looked surprised. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, just…after Luke…I was wondering…"

Annabeth looked at the ground. We had stopped under the trees. "Um…I guess I'm fine."

"Why would he do something like that?"

Annabeth shook her head. "He took a quest…a mission to help a god or the camp or whatever. He was never the same afterward. I think he's always disliked his father."

"What about you? How are you on family terms?"

Annabeth smiled a little bit. "I went to live with my dad again last summer…and it was better. A lot of monsters, but still good. I also met my mom…and now I understand we can't keep grudges against our parents. Demigods can't have relationships with their Olympian parents the way they can with their mortal parents."

"Do you know any demigods with good mortal families?" I asked stubbornly.

"Of course." Annabeth said with a shrug.

"Like…?" I prompted.

"Like Percy. His mom is great. And my half-brother—"

"Never mind." I muttered, and set off in front of her.

…

As I sat waiting for my turn on the rock wall, I wondered what my mom would say if I came back. Would she be happy to see me? Would she be mad? Had she even known that I had died?

When Annabeth got over to me, rubbing her hands with chalk, I asked her if I was allowed to leave camp.

"Well, sure." Annabeth said. "If you have a quest, or at the end of the summer." Her face suddenly turned serious. "But it would be safer for _you_ to stay here."

I shrugged. "Okay."

"Thinking of going back to your mom?"

I stared at the grass. "Maybe."

I didn't have much time after that to think about this, because suddenly I was scaling a huge rock wall with lava pouring down it that was so hot I nearly fell because my hands were sweating.

I managed to heave myself over the side and I laid there for a long time, wondering how I was going to survive the next few weeks.

…

"Tomorrow is capture the flag…so everybody get a good night's sleep!" Chiron said in front of the camp at the camp fire. Everybody stood up, and Annabeth ran over to me with Percy trying to keep up.

"Thalia! You have to be on our team for capture the flag!" she said.

"Our?"

"Yes…Athena, Poseidon, Hermes, and hopefully Zeus?" she grinned at me.

My eyes flicked over to Percy, who looked mildly hopeful. "Okay. So what's up with this game?"

"Oh, you'll love it."

…

I felt a little out of place with all of the laughing Hermes kids, the bitterly serious Athena kids, and Percy, right in there with the Athena kids, trying to give input.

I tried to look more confident than I felt. "Thalia, with the shield, you'll be defense, and Percy, you'll be defense..." Annabeth instructed, looking extremely grown-up in her helmet, with her big shield.

"Where do you want me?" I asked.

"Over by Zeus's fist, where our flag is going to be…Percy, can you show her where it is, set up the flag, and then get over to the creek…"

"Again?" he complained.

"Yes, sea weed brain…that way you can use the water." She rolled her eyes. "Isn't that your strength? Plus, I've got a plan."

Percy looked about ready to hit her over the head with his shield, so it surprised me when he gave in and beckoned for me to follow him.

We walked through the woods for about two minutes until we came into a clearing by a rock pile that looked like huge fist. He unfurled the blue flag, extended the pole, and stuck it into the ground near the formation. "Good luck." He said to me, and left, disappearing into the woods.

I stood there, dumbstruck, and looked around. I was surrounded by dark forest, and the sun was unbearably warm above me. I tugged at the neck of my black t-shirt under my armor. It was like wearing six winter coats.

I decided it wasn't the best idea to sit down and relax, especially when I heard a huge horn blow over the trees, which made several birds scatter. "Calm down, Thalia." I muttered to myself. "You're the daughter of Zeus, for gods' sake."

I sort of hung around, a little bored, for a while. The only sign of any action was when a wall of water peaked over the trees quite a ways away and then fell back down, disrupting several more birds, and causing screams and shouts. I had to hand it to Percy…he was pretty powerful.

Maybe Percy had stopped the other team. Maybe I wouldn't have a chance to make a fool of myself.

But I spoke too soon.

Clarisse came charging through the trees, holding her electric blade. I had put away my shield a few minutes ago because it was heavy, so I must have looked pretty defenseless. She charged at me, and I pressed my bracelet with a trembling hand. The shield expanded just as Clarisse was about to slice me through with that wicked spear.

I slashed at her, but she blocked it easily. The collision sent a shock through my body and knocked me backwards. She noticed my shock and jabbed again, but I swung my shield in front of my chest and brought my spear down onto her armor. The celestial bronze didn't even dent the red armor, it just made her more mad.

"You should be on our team, Miss Zeus." She said, backing up. "Not with Prissy and Princess."

I could only guess she meant Percy and Annabeth. "I'm not an idiot, Clarisse."

I swung my spear at her, but, again, she blocked it with a wicked grin. Her eyes seemed to flash with fire as her spear hit mine and she threw her weight into pushing both swords toward me. I knew if I tried to slip my spear out from under hers, I'd get my head chopped off (not ideal), and I couldn't overpower her.

I'm not sure what made me do it, but I kicked her in the chest and sent her stumbling backward in shock. The air seemed to cackle with electricity, which scared me a little bit, but I went with it. I slammed into her again with my shield, and this time I smelt something burning.

Clarisse was lying in the shrubs several feet back, her hair practically smoking. We weren't actually allowed to hurt anybody too badly, so I panicked and ran over to her. "Oh, sorry, Clarisse…" I muttered reluctantly.

She picked herself out of the bushes and pointed her sword at me, a lot angrier than she was before. "Oh, you are _so _dead, Little Miss Lightning."

I barely managed to keep up with Clarisse's furious swipes and the pounding she was giving me with her shield. It was starting to be more me trying not to be killed rather than a fight. Once she knocked my spear out of my hands, and my shield was down by my stomach, so she took a swipe at my head and I fell to my knees. She knocked my helmet off and picked me up by my hair…which hurt!

"Let go, dummy!" I protested, but my spear was on the ground, and I couldn't seem to hit Clarisse effectively with Aegis.

She dropped her shield and lifted me higher. My feet were dangling off the ground and my eyes were watering like crazy. "I said…let…go!" I punched her in the nose and she let me fall to the ground. This Clarisse girl was a jerk!

I picked up my spear, and kicked Clarisse's shield across the field. My toes throbbed, and she howled in rage. "I'm tougher than you thought." I said, standing over her with my sword. "Get back up."

Clarisse stood on her feet and pointed her sword back at me. Within thirty seconds I was holding both swords and pointing them at Clarisse as Annabeth and Percy, followed by the rest of our team, ran toward me holding the red team's flag.

I gave Clarisse her sword back, and she shot me a deadly look and stalked past us into the trees. Annabeth and Percy both stared at me in shock for a second before congratulating me. One of Hermes boys clapped me on the back, and for the first time since I had gotten to camp, I felt like the daughter of Zeus.


	4. I Get a Pointless Visit

**Okay, so I'm not so sure about this chapter…I hope I got most of it right! **

I was walking back to my cabin one night after coming from the wash houses, and I noticed a figure down by the beach. At first I thought it may have been Percy…but I wasn't so sure.

Okay, so I was curious. I went down to the beach and slowly approached the man, who smiled.

"Thalia…just the person I wanted to see." His voice was jolly and friendly.

"Who are you?" I asked, and the man smiled again.

"I am Poseidon."

"You're Percy's dad!" I said in shock. Why was the Sea God coming to see me, and not Percy?

"Indeed I am. And I came to see you…to make sure it was true that you are back. I wanted to see it for myself."

I was quiet for a moment. "Is everybody mad that I'm alive?" I asked suddenly.

He raised his eyebrows at me. "No. We are all concerned on what it means for the future, but nobody is mad that you survived."

"What about my father?"

He stared out at the sea for a long time in silence. The waves seemed to rise and fall with his breathing. "Don't take my brother's actions personally. He only wants what's best for Olympus, and you are dangerous."

My fists clenched. "How?"

"The prophecy. You have heard it, haven't you?"

"No."

Poseidon shrugged. "It may not be about you, in the end. It could be about my son. But either way, you better be informed."

"Then what is it? What's the prophecy?"

"It isn't my decision whether to tell you or not."

"Then why did you bring it up?" I asked, exasperated.

Poseidon really looked like he wanted to tell me to shut up. "Good luck, Thalia. And try not to blast my son to bits. Your father and I are immortal, but you two…" he gave me a joking grin, stepped into the ocean and melted into water.

"What was the point of that?" I asked the naiads that were watching me, giggling. They let out screeches of delight and sank back into the waves.

…

"Chiron?"

Chiron was packing up after his last archery class of the day. The sun was calmly setting over the trees. I hadn't seen a more beautiful night.

"Chiron…what's up with this Prophecy?"

He stiffened and looked down at me. "How did you know about the Prophecy?"

If I told Chiron, would it get Poseidon in trouble? "Um…I heard about it years ago, of course, from…from one of the Kindly Ones. I just remembered." I said coolly. Yeah, that sounded right.

Chiron sighed and swung his bag of arrows over his shoulder. "I am not sure if I am _allowed _to tell you. The gods think it is best not to tell Percy—I don't know what they would think about telling you."

"But what if the Prophecy is about _me? _Shouldn't I know? Shouldn't I be prepared?" I argued. It was apparent Chiron was going to win, but I had to try.

"The problem with that is, Thalia, the Prophecy speaks of a half-blood with a father of the Big Three making a big decision when they turn sixteen. You are supposed to be much older than sixteen."

I was quiet. I kept forgetting that I was supposed to be nearly twenty years old. I had aged slowly inside the tree, and now I looked somewhere in the middle of the age I had been and the age I was supposed to be.

"Can't you at least…at least ask someone about it? Ask my father to tell me?" I asked hopefully.

"I'm afraid that wouldn't do any good. You will know when the time comes."

I wanted to protest further, but I folded my arms across my chest and looked up at him expectantly. "Okay, then."

"I believe I do have something to show you…you're old enough to be taught."

"What?"

"You can't tell anybody…especially Percy, because I don't think I can trust him with this quite yet."

"What?!" I asked eagerly. Something Percy wasn't mature enough to learn? Bring it on!

…

I couldn't quite get the knack of manipulating the Mist. When Chiron demonstrated, he would snap his fingers and you could feel the powerful stuff swirling. I would snap, and there would be this almost resistant tug, like the Mist didn't want to move for me.

I'd sit under the pavilion at dinner and try to use it on Clarisse from across the room. I usually ended up getting some weird looks from people watching me snap my fingers and mutter to myself.

I spent most of my time trying to figure it out. But meanwhile, the end of the summer was drawing nearer. Annabeth would be going to live with her father, and Percy with his mother. Even Grover was going off to search for more half-bloods at a school in Maine. I had to face the year without any friends at camp, or go home to my mother.

Finally I got a message that clearly stated the cleaning harpies were allowed to eat me if I stayed tomorrow without warning Chiron. So I boarded a plane. Yup…I boarded a plane and headed to Los Angeles. I tried to call ahead, but the phone line was disconnected…so I figured my mom had just forgotten to pay the phone bill.

I took a taxi to my mom's apartment. The thought had crossed my mind that maybe my mom had moved, but when I thought about it again, I was pretty sure she was too lazy to do that. I got off at the fancy apartment building and entered through the doors. The old doorman looked at me skeptically. I guess it was suspicious to see a young girl in black unaccompanied into the fanciest apartment building on the street.

I walked up to a woman at the front counter. "Excuse me, does Mrs. Grace still live here?"

The doorman spoke before the woman had a chance to check. "Who's asking?"

What was I supposed to say? There was a chance my mother never found out I died…or at the very least, never told everyone else. But there was also the chance I'd end up on the front cover of the newspaper…and that could be dangerous with all the monsters out there.

"I'm an old friend of her daughter's." I lied. That sounded okay.

"Well, I'm sorry, but she died two years ago in a car accident." He said gently.

It felt like someone had hit me over the head with a big club. "Oh." I said stupidly. "Thanks."

I walked out of the building quickly, my eyes stinging with tears and my limbs feeling like Jell-O. I had been hoping things would be better this time…like Annabeth and her father. And even so, she was still my mother. Now I didn't have any family besides my dad, and it wasn't like I could just walk up to his throne in Olympus and go, 'hey, I need some advice'.

I stumbled into an alley, sat down heavily and cried for the first time in a long, long time.


	5. I Find My Place

**Sorry for making up how Thalia and Luke met out of nowhere, but I needed something to work with for the rest of this chapter.**

**And I think this is my last chapter, since as I finish this I realize I have no idea what to write next with this story. Oh, well, maybe that's a sign to switch to Harry Potter for a while! **

**Sure, I could go in a million different places, but I think I'll leave it like this, because this is probably the best story I've ever written. (Thanks, Rick Riordan, for letting me mess with your story… ****) **

**3 Kiaralilly**

…

I remembered sitting in a café down the street from my apartment building when I met Luke.

I was sitting in one of the cushioned chairs, reading a magazine and trying to push the last fight I had with my mother out of my mind.

A boy burst through the café doors, then, panting. Everybody glared at him, and he ducked into the crowd and ended up sitting next to me. I felt my heart flop in my chest. He was really good-looking, with his blonde hair and nice smile.

But, at the same time, I was curious as to why he looked so nervous. And he was covered in bruises. His clothes were ripped and slightly singed.

"You look like you just got attacked." I commented.

He laughed bitterly and pushed his hair out of his eyes.

"What were you running from?" I pressed.

"Um…these jerks from school."

I could tell he was lying right away…and he was trying to ignore me.

I spotted him slipping something from the sleeve of his jacket to his backpack. It was a long piece of bronze, followed by a hilt…?

"Is that a sword?" I asked a little too loudly.

"Shhhh!" he hissed, and slapped a sweaty hand over my mouth. I hit him away and dug my hand into his backpack. My index finger hit something, and I yelped.

I pulled my hand back out, and it was bleeding. "Ow!" I accused the boy, who was staring at me in amazement. "You're not human."

"What?" I asked. First he cut me and now he was insulting me? "What do you mean, I'm not human?"

I was wrapping my finger in napkins, glaring at the boy.

"What's your name?" he asked me.

"Thalia Grace." I said reluctantly. "You?"

"Luke Castellan." He said in a hushed voice. He shifted uncomfortably. "Can I ask you a question?"

"I guess so."

"Do you…happen to only have one parent?"

This caught me as strange. "Yeah…my mom…how did you…?"

He kept going. "Have you been diagnosed with ADHD? Dyslexia?"

My cheeks burned. In fact, I had both, but I was touchy. I tried not to let anyone notice or know if I could. But for some reason, I told him yes.

He was thinking for a second, and then he turned to me again. "Have you ever seen anything…weird?"

I wanted to say, 'Besides you?', or something clever like that, but then an old lady entered the shop and Luke jumped to his feet. "I'll see you later!" he yelped, and slipped out of the store.

I tried to follow him, but once I got out of the store he was gone.

…

The next morning I woke up to yelling in the back alley outside of my window. I ran to my window.

It was that boy Luke, standing in the alley with a long sword held out at a hissing, spitting cat-lady that was bent in a ferocious crouch, cornering him. "Luke!" I yelled impulsively, and both the monster and Luke looked up in shock.

"Get back into your room!" he ordered.

I looked around my room desperately for anything I could use to help. I could throw stuff at it, but once I glanced out of the window, I saw that Luke was too close to the monster, trying to stab it with its sword. I'd hit him.

Suddenly there was a flash of light, and I looked to my bed. A huge shield decorated with a hideous Medusa and a long spear was lying on my bed. I hardly thought…I grabbed them both and jumped out onto the fire escape.

I stepped onto the ladder, which fell with a clatter down three stories, and I jumped off, feeling a little heroic as I caught the monster off-guard, and stabbed it in the ribs. It gave a strangled cry and burst into smoke.

Luke was staring at me, sweat beaded on his face. His face turned up into a smile. "You're _definitely _a demigod." He said, almost triumphantly.

"What was that?" I asked in a high-pitched voice. I took a deep breath and stared him down.

"A Sphinx."

"That makes no sense."

"Thalia…right?"

"Right."

"Have you ever heard of the old Greek myths?"

And that's how it all started. Once, a minotaur got away when we took down its buddy, and he went off and told everyone about my shield, which happened to be an exact replica of my father's. Eventually Luke helped me put two and two together and we found out I was the daughter of Zeus. After that things just got worse.

…

I pulled my leather jacket on, swung my duffel bag over my shoulder and got out of the Camp Half-Blood bus. Chiron was waiting at the top of the hill. When I met him, he turned to me gravely. "I'm sorry about your mother, Thalia."

I shrugged, trying hard not to start crying again. "It doesn't matter." I said gruffly, and jogged down the hill and across the camp to my cabin.

So it was back to training. For the next week I put all my time and effort into slicing apart dummies and attacking other campers with all my strength. I pulled myself up the rock wall countless times, and I even attempted to master archery.

_Thwack! Thump! _I reloaded my bow. _Twack! Thump! _The arrows arched in the air and hit the mark a little more accurately than I thought it would. Okay, it wasn't a bulls-eye, but I had just barely missed that perfect shot.

"Very good, Thalia." Chiron complemented after class. "You are improving."

I shrugged and began to pack up my arrows.

"Thalia…I told Annabeth about your mother."

I turned red. I really wanted to hit the stupid Centaur over the head. The way Annabeth had been acting around me lately, I wasn't excited to see the way she started acting around me _now. _

_He's a teacher, Thalia. _I reminded myself, and I nodded bitterly.

"She invited you to go to a nearby boarding school…the one she goes to."

My day brightened considerably. At least I wouldn't be alone…or worrying about that prophecy Chiron and Poseidon had talked about every time I whacked the head off a dummy. "When do I start?" I asked.

Chiron smiled. "You can leave tomorrow. I'll make the arrangements."

…

My brain was racked with dreams that night.

Luke was standing at the edge of a dark river. It looked poisonous…and it radiated evil. Swirling around in the river were all sorts of odd objects…like someone had dropped the contents of their attic in there. Paint brushes, car parts, scraps of damp clothing. A big, heavily set guy in Greek armor swirled into sight in front of Luke, making him jump.

Luke's face turned to a sneer and he straightened himself up. "Achilles. I don't need your advice, thank you."

Achilles blinked his pale green eyes. "Do not take this curse. It hurts as much as it helps."

An ugly, sneering lion with a tail like a scorpion's advanced on Achilles as he tried to explain himself, and he disappeared again.

Luke was looking into the river, his bitter face trying to hold back intense fear.

"Come on, Luke." The monster hissed. "Take on the curse for your master."

Luke shuffled and closed his eyes. His worries seemed to disappear from his face for a split second before he took a step forward and fell into the inky river.

…

"Thalia!" Annabeth flew forward and hugged me. "I'm so glad you're here…are you okay?" her mood switched suddenly to being concerned.

"I'm fine, Annabeth." I said exasperatedly.

Annabeth looked hurt for a moment, but before I could apologize she seemed to shake it off.

"You'll love it here. They have this _amazing _architecture class…I love it…I'm sure you'd find something you like…" Annabeth went on listing electives all the way to our dormitory, which was plain white with two desks, two sets of drawers for our clothes and two beds. Annabeth's side of the room was very tidy, even though it was jammed with stuff. She had homework and papers neatly organized on her desk, and her bed was nicely made with navy blue sheets. Her dresser was lined with pictures of her and her family and friends. In one she was by herself, standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial with her arms crossed over her chest triumphantly.

"I'm so glad you're here." Annabeth said. "Here at the school…and…just…alive!" she smiled.

I couldn't help but smile, too. Annabeth _was _my family…I was happy I was here with her. "Same here, kid." I said, slinging my bag onto the bed. "Same here."


End file.
